Missile technology is created by many sentient species in different planets across the galaxy. Despite the weapon's various origins, they are all easily compatible with Samus Aran's highly modular Power Suit.

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The 2D side-scrolling Metroid titles feature rapid-firing missiles. In their usual form, the Missiles have a rocket shape with gray colouring and pink stripes. The Missiles can be fired rapidly, and the total number of them she can acquire varies from game to game.

Super Missiles are a more potent form of missile capable of opening Green Doors and clearing away Cordite. In most 2D Metroid games, Super Missiles have their own separate ammo reserve. In Metroid Fusion the Super Missile only makes normal Missiles three times stronger with a more effective propulsion system, and can damage more hardy beings that the standard Missile could not, and simply creates a larger explosion upon impact followed by an aftershock.

In Fusion, it is heavily implied that Missiles are not closely integrated to Samus's body in comparison to her Beam weapons; this is apparent when the cold attributes of the Ice Beam are initially incompatible with Samus's new genetic make-up, while her Ice Missiles, outfitted with subzero properties, seem to have no repercussions against her.

In the Metroid Prime series, Samus must first obtain the Missile Launcher (which automatically provides a capacity of up to five missiles). She can then further expand her Missile reserves by collecting Missile Expansions; each Missile Expansion increases the maximum missile capacity by five (or ten in Metroid Prime Hunters). There are several uses for missiles in the Prime series, and Missiles can be combined with other weapons for special attacks, though this feature was removed in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Missiles in the first two Prime games were blue, and appeared to be energy-based. Corruption differed from the other depictions and seemingly returned to the roots of the franchise by making missiles more similar to the original designs.

Missiles as seen in Metroid Prime Hunters.

Missiles of the Prime series always feature a homing ability, although can still miss if the target has quick agility. Some enemies can have a jamming effect on homing missiles, causing them to become erratic and miss their target. A few Space Pirates in Corruption are equipped with specially sloped battle armor that simply deflect missile attacks, making missiles useless against them. However, once their armor is broken, they are vulnerable to missiles.

In Metroid Prime Hunters, the missile can be charged to deal more damage. The Missile Launcher is also Samus's Affinity Weapon. When Samus fires a charged missile, it deals more damage and gains a slight homing effect. Other hunter's missiles have no tracking effect. The missile does around 36 damage if uncharged.

In Metroid: Other M, missiles play a more unique role. Missiles are more often used to damage/eliminate things that other weapons cannot (mostly the Charge Beam). All missile types can only be fired in Search View, however. Metroid: Other M is the first Metroid game to introduce a missile supply that can be reloaded and replenished if Samus is low on missiles by holding the Wii Remote vertically, and pressing and holding the A button until her stock is replenished. This technique is known as Concentration, and can also be used to restore energy at dangerously low levels.

In Metroid Prime: Federation Force, the Federation Force can equip MODs to enhance their Missiles. Only one copy of a MOD can be equipped at a time. The first MOD, Payload Density, comes in three levels and increases the amount of damage to enemies from Missiles by 20, 30 or 50%. With Split Warhead equipped, Missiles will split in two when fired, causing even more damage to enemy targets.

"What's the matter? All I said was that Komaytos look like little Metr—" Non-canon warning: This article or section contains information that may not be considered an official part of the Metroid series in the overall storyline by Nintendo.

The missile is Samus' side-B attack in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl. It is similar to the 2D appearance and function, but homes in on enemies like in the Prime games. However, unlike all of its appearances in Metroid games, it moves very slowly and will decelerate until it stops and explodes after traveling for a set amount of time. By smashing the joystick before pressing B, Samus will fire a Super Missile rather than a normal one; Super Missiles inflict slightly more damage than normal Missiles but lack a homing ability. When fired, it will initially move even slower than a normal Missile, but rapidly accelerates until it is much faster than a normal Missile. Instead of slowing down at the end of its flight, it travels at full speed until it reaches its maximum range, at which point it will immediately explode.

Normal Missile- The basic missile Samus gets at the beginning of the game or finds later in the game. Normally does more damage than a regular un-charged Beam shot. Has rapid fire capability in the 2D Metroid games.

Seeker Missile- Yet another missile-based upgrade that only appears in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Metroid: Other M. This allows the ability to lock on to up to 5 different targets then simultaneously fire a missile at each (In the case with Other M, one of the five Missiles is actually a Super Missile). In Echoes and Corruption, a single enemy or more may be locked on to multiple times to expose a weakness or to just do more damage.

Ice Missile- A Metroid Prime 3: Corruption feature is the Ice Missile upgrade (obtained by defeating Rundas) which turns all normal Missiles into Ice Missiles. Ice Missiles have no negative characteristics or disadvantages over normal missiles and have the added abilities to slow down or freeze enemies, freeze liquids in the environment, and open doors protected by shields vulnerable to cold-based weaponry. It should also be noted that Ice Missiles appear in Metroid Fusion as well, as the Ice Beam was assumed incompatible with Samus' Metroid-infused cellular makeup at the time and therefore could not be downloaded from the Galactic Federation.

Homing Missile- Not a true upgrade, but a feature of the Missiles in 3-D games. These seek enemies.

Diffusion Missile- Only appearance thus far is during the events of Metroid Fusion. This upgrade adds a charging effect to the Ice Missiles; when fully charged, a successful hit will diffuse it's freezing effect across a large area, chilling anything in the blast radius.

Hyper Missile- This is a powerful attack that appears in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption; it uses one standard missile, but can only be used in Hypermode. It puts a large drain on Phazon reserves (equally draining the Hypermode time limit), but creates a very large explosion that can defeat many enemies (and those nearby) in only one hit.

"These are necessary for opening certain doors and give you a better chance against the powerful guardians. You'll be able to carry five missiles for each missile icon you collect. To use missiles, highlight the icon screen top with SELECT and press [X] to fire. Location: Crateria, Brinstar, Norfair, Wrecked ship, Maridia."

"This item rests on a ledge that appears to be too high to access by jumping."

Metroid Prime series Inventory data

Missile

Metroid Prime

Inventory entry

The Missile Launcher adds ballistic weapon capability to the Arm Cannon.Press / to fire the Missile Launcher. Press / to return to Beam mode. Target and lock on with / to fire a Homing Missile*.

Samus's Notes

Missiles fired with a lock-on will seek their targets.Missiles can destroy objects made from Radion or Brinstone.There are Charge Combo enhancements scattered throughout the environment. They use the Missile Launcher and the Charge Beam in tandem to fire more effective blasts.Each Missile Expansion you find will increase the number of Missiles you can carry by 5.

"Launches explosive-tipped MISSILES that detonate in a percussive blast. This standard-issue weapon is extremely effective in dealing with biological threats. Hold the FIRE button to charge the weapon and cause the MISSILE to seek heat signatures. Charging will attract energy and ammo."

"You can fire multiple homing missiles simply by holding a side direction and repeatedly hitting the Special button."

Damage 5~10%

"Fires a homing missile at the closest opponent. If you input the attack as a Smash attack, it fires a Super Missile. The Super Missile launches higher, travels farther, and deals more damage, but only travels horizontally. Note, you can only have one Super Missile at a time or Samus will misfire."

"Samus starts her mission on SR388 with a Missile Launcher and a decent-sized missile count. Missiles—along with the Ice Beam—are your primary means of damaging Metroids, but they’re also excellent for dealing with most of the planet’s other hostile types. You find a metric ton of Missile Tank Upgrades on this planet, so don’t be afraid to utilize these projectiles with reckless abandon."* The Homing Missile sentence is used in Corruption.

In the Metroid Prime games, Missiles have a slower rate of fire than their variants in the 2-D Metroid games. However, this can be remedied by rapidly pressing and alternating constantly between the buttons that shoot the Missiles and Beams, respectively. This technique is called the Rapid Fire Missiles. An example of this can be seen here.

It is revealed in Corruption by use of the X-Ray Visor that the reloading mechanism for the missile launcher is actually operated manually by Samus turning her hand inside the arm cannon, performing the turning motion of the open barrel seen every time Samus fires a missile. However, this action is not performed in Metroid Prime.

In Other M, Samus pumps her Arm Cannon after each Missile, similar to a shotgun.

In Metroid Prime, firing missiles will not activate any Blue Doors, and instead will bounce off and Samus' visor will display a message saying that it is not a weapon that can open that door. Oddly, this never occurs for the other Blue Doors of the Prime series. This error has been fixed for most, if not all Blue Doors in the Wii versions of Prime.

Although Missiles are said to be Samus's Affinity Weapon in Hunters, several enemies seem to have versions of the Missiles and the Missile Launchers in Echoes and Corruption seem to be of Galactic Federation origin.

In Metroid: Other M, if Samus fires a Missile at a Desbrachian, there is a possibility that it will bounce off its armor and reflect back at her, dealing light damage.

In Metroid Prime Hunters, Samus cannot use Missiles until she obtains a Missile ammo from a defeated Petrasyl. This marks the first game in the series where Missiles cannot be used until a Missile ammo pickup is obtained.